Skiing at Mt Lyford offers a great small and affordable learners / family / intermediate area in the North of South Island New Zealand.  The skiing at Mt Lyford is 26km from Waiau, 60km (50mins) from Hanmer Springs, 146km/2hrs from Christchurch, and 60km(45mins) from the whale watching mecca of Kaikoura.
To get to Mt Lyford, there's a reasonably short and well maintained gravel road which passes through the forest and into alpine terrain.  It passes through the Lake Stella (a former resort), where there is a car park, and finishes at Terako Basin, where there is another car park and the main ski area.

There are a number of drag tows and a fair amount of pretty mellow undulating skiing terrain.  There is also some pretty cool terrain coming off the top poma with some good steep sections.